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Electrosensory Transduction: Comparisons Across Structure, Afferent Response Properties, and Cellular Physiology

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Electroreception: Fundamental Insights from Comparative Approaches

Part of the book series: Springer Handbook of Auditory Research ((SHAR,volume 70))

Abstract

The first relays of the vertebrate electrosensory system arise from epidermal specializations with voltage-sensitive receptor cells that are tuned to the relevant frequencies of bioelectric fields. Despite diverse phylogenetic origins and adaptations to varying habitats, electroreceptor organs share a number of morphological and functional characteristics to facilitate the detection of low-intensity electric fields. Much of the current knowledge of physiological mechanisms underlying electrosensory transduction has been gleaned from in vivo electrophysiological recordings from primary electrosensory afferents or recordings of electrical impulses from the organs themselves. Recent advances in genetic and patch-clamp electrophysiological techniques have made detailed comparisons of the molecular mechanisms of transduction possible. These comparisons have the potential to shed light on convergent mechanisms of stimulus transduction and filtering among diverse species as well as broad themes of signal transduction relevant to other hair cell-based sensory systems.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the editors for the invitation to write this chapter and for their thoughtful comments and Dr. Nicholas Bellono for his careful and critical discussion of this manuscript.

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Duncan B. Leitch declares that he has no conflict of interest.

David Julius declares that he has no conflict of interest.

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  1. Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Duncan B. Leitch & David Julius

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  1. Duncan B. Leitch
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Correspondence to Duncan B. Leitch .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Bruce A. Carlson

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Joseph A. Sisneros

  3. Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Arthur N. Popper

  4. Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Richard R. Fay

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Leitch, D.B., Julius, D. (2019). Electrosensory Transduction: Comparisons Across Structure, Afferent Response Properties, and Cellular Physiology. In: Carlson, B., Sisneros, J., Popper, A., Fay, R. (eds) Electroreception: Fundamental Insights from Comparative Approaches. Springer Handbook of Auditory Research, vol 70. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29105-1_3

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